The invention relates to devices for securing a bed sheet in place on a mattress, and in particular to such devices designed for use with fitted or flat bed sheets.
Sheets placed over a mattress are either of the flat or fitted variety. Flat sheets, as are sometimes still used by hotels, are typically fitted to the mattress by simply tucking the sheet corners under the corresponding corner of the mattress. The corners of these sheets easily slip out from under the mattress due to movement during sleep or from entering or exiting the bed. Fitted sheets are those that are drawn up at their corners with an elastic material in order to fit snugly over the four corners of the mattress. While such sheets are more likely to stay in place during use than traditional flat sheets, they still are commonly found to release from one or more corners of the mattress over time.
The art includes a number of devices intended to solve the problem of sheet slippage. Such devices are taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,459,497, U.S. Pat. No. 2,321,394, U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,560, and French Patent No. 2,777,167. None of these devices have proven entirely satisfactory, in that they are not sufficiently secure, unduly complicated, too costly to produce, require complete removal of the mattress to secure in place, or are visible during use. An improved means of securing either a flat or fitted sheet in place that does not suffer from these drawbacks is therefore desired.
References mentioned in this background section are not admitted to be prior art with respect to the present invention.